Konoha's Orange Maelstrom
by TheAngryKids64
Summary: What if Orochimaru didn't start the invasion right away? What if he wanted to see the progress of the Rookies? Little did he know what kind of consequences that his actions had made. Inspired by Naruto: Arashiodori
1. Gaara's Beast Sasuke's Limit

Chapter 1: The beast of Gaara unleashed! Sasuke pushed to the limit!

* * *

" CHIDORI! ".

That was all that Naruto had heard when he saw his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha, shoved the new technique that he learned from Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja into the sand orb created by Gaara of the Desert.

He heard Gaara scream about his blood being spilt and Sasuke was pushed back by a strange arm that no one knew.

However, Naruto and Shikamaru knew, for just yesterday, they encountered the Sand-nin trying to kill Rock Lee and told the two Leaf-nin of his dark, tragic past and the reason that he came up with in order to live... he had to kill others to prove his existance.

What terrified Naruto about this was that he realized that he could have ended up like this. A blood-thristy killer who was no more but a simple tool to the demon within him to control and tell him what to do.

He was snapped out of his thoughts, when he saw the orb started to crack and when it fell, there was so much dust that you couldn't see Gaara, but they all heard his cold, emotionless voice.

" We're so alike, Uchiha. " said Gaara " We both have purposes in our life. But there is a diffrence between you and I. I don't have these _friends _as you do, but they only hold me back! But mine is the STRONGER purpose.".

When the smoke clear, Naruto's heart stopped and his blood ran cold at the sight of Gaara, for half of his face has been covered with sand with blue markings and his left arm has transformed to a giant claw and he knew what it was.

" What is that? " his sensei, Kakashi, asked.

Before Naruto knew, he answered it himself without realizing it.

" Shukaku. "

* * *

" Now, LET ME FEEL ALIVE! " Gaara yelled before charging at great speeds after the Uchiha.

' What the- ' Sasuke thought as he dodged Gaara's hand-claw from killing him ' Is he a human or... a beast?! '.

Sasuke managed to hide in the dust and could not be seen, as he hid in the trees, that somehow went unnoticed by Gaara with his insane-like state.

" What's wrong!? " yelled Gaara " Are you shocked by my true form? Come Out, Come Out! SASUKE UCHIHA! ".

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he jumped from the tree at the sand-covered Gaara, who grinned darkly at him, and hit him with his claw puncturing the side of it, before it was revealed to be a substitution.

" Up here! " Sasuke yelled as he threw six kunai at Gaara, who caught them with his hand and absorbed it and shot them back at him, with speed so fast that it lit the kunai and hit Sasuke... which it was proved to be a clone.

" A clone! " Gaara said in anger as he looked around his surrondings and yelled " WHY DO YOU FLEE!? ".

" Do you FEAR me! Do you FEAR my EXISTANCE, SASUKE UCHIHA? " Gaara yelled with a crazed grin.

Sasuke, however, let his thoughts drift off as he remembered encountering Gaara before the finals and the reason he lives. He then remembered Itachi and how his entire clan was wiped out in one night because of him.

He then formed some hand-signs and started to recreate the Chidori and started to show himself to Gaara.

Said person looked at him with a look of bloodlust in his eyes and started to laugh like a maniac and said " Now, we can have some fun! SASUKE UCHIHA! ".

Sasuke and Gaara charged at each other, both with the intention of ending their opponents life.

" CHIDORI! ".

" DIE! ".

The two teenagers clashed and Sasuke's Chidori sliced straight through Gaara's arm and he yelled out in pain, before Sasuke landed on his feet and Gaara crashed on the ground.

Then, there was silence.

* * *

" All right! " Naruto yelled " Sasuke did it! He beat Gaara! " as all the Rookies looked at said person in relief.

" No. " Kakashi suddenly stated " Do you really think that a person like Gaara could go down that easily? ".

Suddenly, they heard an eerie laugh coming from Gaara.

* * *

" HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! You continue to amuse me, Sasuke Uchiha! " yelled Gaara, as he got back up with the sand creating another arm on his right arm and a tail started to grow from behind.

He then attached them both from the tree and slighshotted himslef at the unspecting Uchiha.

' He's faster! ' Sasuke thought in danger as he dodged the insane Gaara, and turned around to see him connect his claw with the pillars of the arena.

Sasuke went through several hand-signs and yelled " **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu! **" and shot it at Gaara, who wrapped himself into a ball of sand and reopened when the jutsu ended.

He slammed against Sasuke and sent him flying back throught the tree and to the wall, creating a small crator.

Gaara landed on his feet and looked at the Uchiha and yelled " What's wrong!? Does your existance amount to the value of this much? ".

Sasuke said nothing as Gaara continued " Do you know why YOU are weak? It's because you don't have enough HATRED! ".

This got Sasuke's attention " The reason you're so weak is because your hatred is weaker compared to mine! ".

Sasuke started to shake in anger as he remebered his brother's final words that he said before he disappeared " _In order to kill me, little brother, you will have to hate me and use that hatred to kill me! _".

" ... shut up. " whispered Sasuke in anger.

" You don't know the meaning of hatred! " Gaara grinned, trying to lure the Uchiha to him.

" Shut up! " yelled Sasuke in anger.

" As you are after all... weaker than me! " Gaara finally screamed.

Sasuke slowly got up and formed handsigns for the Chidori for a third time.

Kakashi caught on to this and his eye was wide in horror and surprise and yelled " SASUKE, NO! You're beyond your limit, you can't form a third Chidori! ".

Sasuke, however, didn't listen (big surprise) and said " Itachi chose me to live. The one to kill him because... I AM AN AVENGER! " he yelled the last part.

He charged at Gaara, who did the same thing, and he hissed in pain of the Curse Mark spreading through his body, as the Chidori grew a little smaller in size.

The two clashed and blood flew through the air and the two landed with a cut on Sasuke's shoulder and Gaara's right sand arm fell off.

The Chidori finally died, as Gaara yelled in pain and Sasuke collapsed to the ground and the sand started to wrap around his left arm and turned to face Sasuke.

* * *

" Crap! " cursed Kakashi " Sasuke's beyond his limit and he's weakened, now Gaara has a chance to kill him! " and went through several handsigns to stop Gaara, but Gaara leaped at the Uchiha with speed faster than Kakashi could see.

' I'm too late! " Kakashi thought in dismay, while he didn't notice a certain blond missing from the crowd. _

" DIE! " yelled Gaara, charging at Sasuke

" Crap... my body, I can't move... ' thought Sasuke as Gaara thrusted his arm to end the Uchiha's life, Gaara found a foot in his face and was launched back a good 20 meters.

He sat up in pain to glare hatefully at the one who interfered his kill and hissed out venomously " You! ".

For it was none other, than Naruto Uzumaki who was glaring hatefully at the sand-monster.

" If you ever harm my friends... I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS! " Naruto shouted.


	2. Enraged and Terrified

Chapter 2: Gaara enraged! Naruto terrified!

* * *

Silence. It reigned the arena as all the villagers and shinobi of Konoha held their breath and looked at the orange-claded genin in shock and surprise of his declaration.

They were mostly surprised when they saw a bruise starting to form on Gaara's cheek of where he kicked him.

However, Naruto used the oppurtunity to grab Sasuke and jump back into the crowd to where all the Rookies and the two Jounin senseis were at.

" Naruto... how did... you... " Sasuke gasped out before he fainted from the pain of the Curse Mark.

The Rookies got up, so that Naruto could place Sasuke down on the stands to rest.

* * *

Genma looked fearfully at Gaara and announced " Winner: GAARA! ".

Not less than five seconds after he annonunced, Gaara yelled " COME DOWN HERE, NARUTO UZUMAKI! YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU HAVE A DEMON LIKE ME! MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE! ".

Everyone looked fearfully at the orange-clad genin and held their breaths waiting for his response.

* * *

' Damn. It would seem Sasuke-kun lost and Gaara has started his transformation. ' Orochimaru, in the Kazekage disguise, thought ' However, Naruto-kun showed great progress with mastering the Kyuubi's chakra and in wounding Gaara. He may be a problem for the future and I might as well slow down the Akatsuki's plans at the chance. ' he chuckled at the thought of Pain in anger.

" What's so funny, Lord Kazekage? " asked the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

" Nothing, Lord Hokage. It's just that today is a great down for Sunagakure. Not only has our Gaara defeated the last Uchiha, but he is about to face the boy who managed to defeat the Hyuga prodigy. " said Orochimaru

" I see, but don't start counting on your victory just yet, Naruto isn't one who can be beaten that easily by an opponent. " replied Hiruzen.

' Please, that boy will die the first minute he steps into the arena, and then the invasion can go off without a hitch. ' thought Orochimaru darkly, looking at the arena with hidden glee.

* * *

Naruto looked at Gaara fearfully and saw his eyes... the eyes of pain, the eyes of darkness, the eyes of a madman, but more importantly... the eyes of a predator stalking its prey.

He started to shake in fear and thought ' This guy... I can't beat him, he beat Sasuke and Bushy Brows, who beat Sasuke, and they used all their techniques on this guy. '.

" Naruto, " asked Kakashi " Are you alright? ".

" Sensei, I don't think I can beat this guy, he's like me, but he fights only for himself and he seems stronger... what should I do? ".

" I don't know Naruto, but you said just said that he's like you, so shouldn't you be in the same leagues with him? " asked Kakashi.

" But sensei- " Naruto tried to say before he was interrupted.

" You weren't afraid of Zabuza at the Wave mission. And you weren't afraid of Neji and you beat him, didn't you? " Kakashi explained.

" I did, but- " Naruto was interrupted again.

" He attacked your comrades and you're going to let him get away with that? If so, then what kind of Hokage would let a comrade fall in battle and give up on them? " Kakashi finished.

" A bad one. " Naruto said with a dry chuckle.

He turned around and walked towards the prone Sasuke on the bench and looked at him with sad eyes.

" Sasuke, " he said " I'm sorry, but it looks like we won't be able to have that fight that you promised. " and with that he headed down to the arena.

* * *

When he arrived, Gaara was looking at him with hunger in his eyes and realized that here and now, it was just him and his opponent.

" Alright, " Genma said " Let the Semi-finals- " but he was interrupted by Temari.

" Proctor, I wish to withdraw from the exams. " she said.

" As do I. " Shino added.

Genma narrowed his eyes at the two and sighed in irriation " Alright, then without any delays, let the final match of the Chunin Exams... BEGIN! ".

As soon as the word left Genma's mouth, Gaara threw his arm at the young genin and threw him back into a wall, to which he landed on his feet but Gaara hit him again and threw him to another wall.

' Dammit, ' Naruto thought ' I was right, he IS too strong for me. I don't have a chance of beating this guy. ' he was then thrown back into the crowd of the arena and landed on the stairs, a few inches near the Rookies.

" NARUTO! " Kiba yelled, as he saw Gaara jump at the blond with the intention to kill the genin.

" DIE! NARUTO UZUMAKI! " yelled Gaara.

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to end his life, but when it didn't came, he opened his eyes and he was shocked of what he saw... Hinata Hyuga was standing in front of him, trying to defend him.

* * *

Gaara was having the time of his life, not only had he defeated the Uchiha, but everyone in this arena was terrified of him and he was in glee of when he was about to kill the kid in orange.

However, when he saw a girl with lavander pale eyes get in front of him to stop him from killing his prey.

He then remembered his uncle Yashamaru and how he protected a young girl from him and clutched his head in pain at the memory.

" MOVE IT! " he yelled, thrusting his claw at her and sent her flying back into the walls behind her, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

" HINATA! NO! " Naruto yelled as he saw the shy girl thrown back into the walls behind, " Dammit! Damn! What the hell am I suppose to do?! ".

He stood up on his legs, shakily, as if gravity was pulling him down, keeping him from moving.

Gaara then got an idea... a twisted, dark idea.

" This girl! What is SHE to YOU?! " he questioned while yelling.

" She's my friend. " Naruto said, glaring at the monster in front of him, and Gaara saw a small flame of fighting in his eyes.

" And if you hurt her... then I'LL KICK YOUR SANDY ASS! " he yelled.

Gaara grinned like a cheshire cat, as he increased the pressure on Hinata, making her squeal in pain.

" What's wrong? Weren't you going to kick my SANDY ASS?! " taunted Gaara.

" DAMN YOU! " yelled Naruto as he leaped at Gaara.

Gaara, however, hit him with his tail and sent Naruto flying back into the wall behind him.

" Damn. " he whispered " I've got... to save them. ".

Gaara heard this and started to laugh mockingly at Naruto, " So, you fight for the sake of others? That's why you guys are only at that level! You don't need a reason to fight! The only one who is undefeated is the victor and can prove their existance. Come on, forget about your DUMBASS friends and fight only for the sake of yourself! ".

" Dumbass friends? " Naruto hissed out, as he remembers Sasuke with the Curse Mark and Hinata pinned to the wall and all done by Gaara.

" Those who hold silly emotions to fighting are the ones who always dies. And those with a purpose in life are the ones who survive. ".

" Shut up! " Naruto yelled, as he pulled out a kunai and jumped towards Gaara with the intention of cutting off his mouth.

" You fools misunderstand real strength. " was all Gaara said as his Shukaku eye followed Naruto's movements and ripped off the arm holding Hinata, leaving the hand still there as he hit Naruto and threw him back into the arena with him following.

' This guy's tough, I don't know what could- wait a sec. ' Naruto then thought as he went through several handsigns, much to Gaara's confusion.

He bit his thumb, drawing out blood, and slammed his palm on the ground, shouting the jutsu that he's been practicing on for an entire month.

" **Summoning Jutsu! **" and with that, smoke appeared in the arena.


	3. Ninja Handbook

Chapter 3: To protect someone precious! Naruto's Ninja handbook:

* * *

" **Summoning Jutsu! **" was what everyone in the arena heard from the blond shinobi and all the adults in Konoha held their breath.

The boy who had yelled out this technique was the one person that nearly everyone in Konoha feared and hated because of his burden.

They hated him because of the Kyuubi-no-Kitsune, the strongest Tailed-Beast, was sealed inside of him and been with him for 13 years.

However, there was one thought on everyone's mind, even his own grandfather figure.

' Did he make a contract with the foxes? '.

* * *

Kakashi's lone eye widened in shock as he heard the technique ' What? How can Naruto learn a jutsu like that? I know that Ebisu doesn't have a summoning contract? Naurto, what have you been learning? '.

" Kakashi! " said Gai " Did you teach him that technique? ".

Kakashi replied " No, I was too busy training Sasuke the Chidori for the past month. ", ' But still, who's been training Naruto the past month? '.

* * *

When the smoke cleared, it revealed to be a toad with the skin of orange-red, wearing a blue jacket just like the Toad Boss in almighty glory... except it was a hundred times more smaller.

" What is it? " asked the toad " Whattya' want kid? Well, whatever it is you better have brought alone some treats. Because if you think I'm doing anything for nothing, you're wrong! ".

" Oh, give me a break! " yelled Naruto " I'm really starting to hate you stinking frogs! ".

" What did you say!? Don't make fun of amphibians! Really! " the toad yelled, giving Naruto a raspberry making some people in the audience face-palm, sweatdrop, or just give them a dead-panned expression watching their argument.

* * *

' What the... ' Kakashi thought ' How can he have the frog contract, there's only one person who has the Toad contract and its... '.

Turning to Gai, who nodded his head in understanding.

" It would seem Lord Jiraiya has returned. " Gai said.

" That would seem. " Kakashi replied.

" Who? " asked Choji.

" Lord Jiraiya. " Tenten explained " He's one of the Legendary Sannin, the one who personally taught the Yondaime himseld. He hasn't returned for a decade or so. Not to mention his teammate is Lady Tsunade! " she added with stars in her eyes and a few sweatdrop at he fangirlism.

" It's true, " Kakashi said, while his thoughts were still continuing.

' But why would he take Naruto under his wing? He hasn't trained anyone since Minato-sensei himself. '.

* * *

' Damn, what happened? ' Naruto thought frantically ' I practiced for so long, but with this, there's no other way... ' .

Gaara had his head lowered, to where no one could see it, while chuckling " This is the thing that you rely on to help you? Don't make me laugh. ".

He raised his head and to everyone's shock and horror, his entire face has transformed to the demon within him and caused him pain.

" You should fight... only for yourself! " he yelled, as his entire body starts to become covered with sand, as all that is left of his original body was the legs and the tattoo for 'love' upon his forehead.

Naruto was speechless in horror as he saw a mini-version of the demon within Gaara before him.

" If you don't take me down, the sand over this girl won't fall away! It will slowly start to suffocate her and within three minutes if you don't beat me, then she'll DIE! " Gaara finished, while yelling.

' Hinata! ' Naruto thought in alarm.

* * *

" WHAT! Kakashi-sensei, you've got to do something! '' Sakura screeched in horror.

" No. " he said.

" Why not?! " Kiba demanded, he'll be damned if he let his teammate be killed by a blood-thristy monster for the sake of himself.

" Because Naruto doesn't have his will to fight yet. Only then, when he gains the strength to take on Gaara by his own, I will cut her down. ".

They all looked at the Jounin when they heard Gaara yell.

* * *

" **Sand Shuriken! **" Gaara yelled before small projectiles shot at Naruto, as he grabbed the small toad and held him against his chest as he flew backwards.

" Wow! You're really pathethic. " said the toad.

" SHUT UP! " yelled Naruto as he glared at Gaara, who in return continued to glare at him.

" Dammit! " he yelled as he jumped into the air and created 20 **Shadow Clones **and was about to pummel him, when multiple mouths opened up on Gaara's sand-infused body.

" **Wind Style:** **Sand Storm Devestation! **" as he blew a massive windstorm at Naruto and blew away all the clones and sent Naruto flying into a wall.

' What the... what is this feeling inside me? ' Naruto thought, as another wave of **Sand Shuriken **slammed into him and sent him farther into the wall.

Naruto starts to stand up and continues to think ' For some reason, I really feel... ' he looked into Gaara's eyes and saw the bloodlust in them ' I feel like I can't lose to him. '.

" What is this? " Gaara asked, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts " You come near me and that's all you got. All that effort and you couldn't even touch me, what a JOKE! " he screamed the last word, increasing the pressure on Hinata, making her scream in pain.

' Hinata, ' Naruto thought as he took out a kunai and wrapped a explosive tag at the handle ' I don't know if this will work, but I have to give it my best shot! '.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu! **" Naruto announced, as 4 clones appeared beside of him.

* * *

" All right Kakashi. " said Gai " Naruto has started to fight back, so we can release Hinata, right? " he was hoping that his eternal rival would agree with him.

" No. " said Kakashi " Naruto has decided to fight, but he still doesn't have the real reason to fight yet, just look at his eyes. ".

Gai did so and saw that while Naruto was ready to fight, he still was trying to find out the reason of why he must fight.

* * *

" Get ready! " yelled Naruto " Here comes the secret Taijustu style... **Naruto Uzumaki's Clone Body Slam! **" as he and the clones jumped into the air.

Gaara grinned darkly at the new development, as he thrusted his hand-claw at three clones, to which another one jumped on top of the claw and threw the real one at him.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu! **" he yelled and another clone was used for Naruto to jump off and a distraction as he managed to get behind Gaara.

" Take this! Konoha's secret forbidden Taijutsi technique, straight from the teachings of Kakashi-Sensei, himself! " yelled Naruto, as he thrusted the kunai foward.

" **A Thousan Years of Death! **" yelled Naruto, as he shoved the kunai into the place of where Gaara's... butthole is suppose to be at.

As everyone facepalmed at the techniaue, save for the Kages who just sweatdropped, Gaara's eye was twitching madly as he hit him back with his tails.

* * *

" Hey, Kakashi-sensei? " asked Sakura " Didn't you use that technique on Naruto during the bell test? " as everyone turned to the cyclopes.

Said man was rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly, while chuckling nervously and sweating bullets, " Wellll, I might have. ".

" Yea, and you used your two fingers instead of a kunai. " Sasuke added painly.

" Well, looking back on it now, I would realize that I- " Kakashi said before Kiba interrupted him.

" That you ass-raped a 12 year old. ".

Kakashi didn't say nothing, but the sweat on his face showed all the emotion it needed.

* * *

As Naruto was flying backwards, blood came from his mouth as he said the word that completed his attack.

" Boom. ".

_KABOOM! _went Gaara's body as it looked like that his body had exploded from the inside.

* * *

Up in the stands, everyone was flabbergasted as the so-called ' dead-last ' made the Sand's Jinchuriki explode.

Kakashi thought ' Naruto, you're the only Shinobi who can turn a joke into a deadly weapon, just like a certain red-head. ' he chuckled at the thought.

Hiruzen was also chuckling ' Oh, that boy is just like Minato and Kushina. Smart and deadly like Minato, but can turn any situation into a joke like Kushina. '.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was seething as the Uzumaki had damaged the weapon, HIS weapon!

* * *

When the smoke cleared, Gaara's body was wounded heavily as he lost his right arm and his tail and the right side of his body was falling.

' He attacked at the base of the tail, where the defense is weakest. Have I underestimated him... this much? ' Gaara thought, while trying to stand.

Naruto, however, crashed into a wall and had his right leg sticking out.

However, from the distance, he can still see Hinata pinned to the wall with Kakashi-sensei and Bushier Brows-sensei and the other Rookies looking at him with worry.

' Why? Why did she protect me? ' Naruto thought, before he could think about it further, his thoughts traced back to a girly-looking boy in the Land of Waves.

" _Beacause they are strong. "._

Suddenly, Naruto started to have flashbacks from previous events of his life.

_In a area of where a great fog was, Naruto and Sasuke was terrified until Kakashi spoke._

_" I will not let my comrades die. That is a promise. ''._

'' I get it now. " Naruto whispered, but could be heard across the arena as Gaara turned his head to the Genin " Because he resembles me... Because he's gone through life with the same sadness and darkness as I have... that guy who continued to fight only for himself and live in solitude. I thought he was strong. But that's not the true meaning of true strength. If one fights only for himself, he can never become strong, that is what Haku taught me. ".

_On a mission to the Land of Waves, Naruto was crouched in a field talking to a girly-looking boy who spoke._

_" Is there someone who is precious to you? When a person wants to protect someone who is precious to him... it's then that they truly... become... strong. "._

Clapping his hands together, forming the Tiger handsign and his determination returning, a great blue orb of chakra formed around the Genin as he looked death straight in the eye and spoke.

" No matter what it takes... I WILL PROTECT EVERYONE! ".

* * *

" Whatever happens, " Kakashi suddenly spoke " Do not take your eyes away from here... because the real Naruto woke up and now... ".

Kakashi stopped as he cut the Hyuga Heirness from her sand prison and laid her down gently.

" It begins now. ".

All across the arena, everyone could be talking about Naruto and his will of to never give up.

' Show them Naruto, show them your true power! ' thought Kakashi with a smirk.

* * *

" **Multi Shadow-Clone Jutsu! **" Naruto yelled as a great smoke filled the arena and revealed to be over a thousand clones and everyone, not even Naruto's team has seen this many clones.

" Sorry to keep you all waiting, for this moment on I'm starting the fight and now let me show you some of my techniques from Naruto's Ninja Handbook! " the real Naruto yelled.

The army of orange jumped toward Gaara, whose eyes widened in shock, as the clones got out a handful of shuriken and threw a handful of shuriken at him.

' My body hasn't fully recovered... ' thought Gaara ' I have to use the sand to defend! ' as he raised his good arm up and to his confusion, only a dozen shurikens to hit his arm.

Suddenly, a clone suddenly appeared and kicked Gaara in the face, sending him in the air.

" **Na **" another clone kicked him in the back.

" **ru **" another kicked him further into the air.

" **to **" a fourth kicked him higher to the height of the roof covering the people watching the match.

" **2k ****Uzumaki **" all the clones appeared in the air and start nailing Gaara with right hooks, left hooks, uppercuts, downward punches or anything, as Gaara was left in a big, pudgy sand mess.

" **Barrage! **" Finally, two Naruto clones came at Gaara and gave a simultaneous blow from left and right hand uppercut and with all that damage, Gaara fell to the ground and landed with a small imprint of the body.

' T-This guy...! ' thought Gaara in pain.

" This time I'll use both my legs for a barrage of 4k Barrage! " yelled the Naruto clones, who began to descend upon Gaara, preparing to pummel him to oblivion.

' Who the hell is that...? Suddenly... Where does that strength come from? There's no way, not to HIM! ' Gaara thought before shouting his thoughts.

" THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'M GONNA LOSE TO A GUY LIKE YOU! " shouted Gaara, channeling the remaining chakra he had into a transformation, making nearly all but 20 clones and the real Naruto, disappear into smoke.

* * *

Naruto and his clones regrouped at the fence as they looked at the smoke cleared and showed a massive tanuki of sand with glowing yellow eyes.

" ... so that's it. " Naruto whispered " The monster... inside of him. ".

The tanuki turned its head to Naruto and said " Well, whattya' know, I never thought that I'd used this form! " he raised his left arm and sent a wave of sand at him.

The Naruto clones jumped in the air and threw kunais with explosive tags at the huge monster, who raises its right arm and catches them, causing many explosion.

" DON'T TOY WITH ME! " he yelled, waving its hand to take out the clones and throw Naruto to the ground.

* * *

' This is bad. ' Kakashi thought ' I didn't know that he had one of the Tailed-Beasts, this is out of Naruto's league. '.

" Gai, " he whispered to the green-clad man " We better prepare for the worst to come. " he raised his forehead protector to reveal the Sharingan.

* * *

The sand wrapped around Naruto like a cocoon and was prepared to kill him.

Suddenly, Naruto remembered Hinata pinned to the wall and raised his thumb to draw a small amount of blood that had leeked from his mouth.

" I, Inu, Tori, Saru, Hitsuji... " he whispered to make sure that no one heard him.

" THIS IS THE END FOR YOU! " Gaara yelled as he closed down his hand " **Sand Burial! **".

" **Summoning Jutsu! **" and with that a great amount of smoke filled the arena.


	4. Clash of the Titans

Chapter 4: A Jinchuriki battle! Clash of the Titans:

* * *

" **Summoning Jutsu! **" Naruto yelled as a great amount of smoke appeared in the arena and Orochimaru was worried for a reason.

' The toads summoning has showed me that he's trained with that idiot Jiraiya, ' Orochimaru thought ' But to summon a toad that big, don't tell me that he summoned... ' he stopped his thoughts when his fear was right.

" Gamabunta! " the Third Hokage exclaimed.

Yes, the chief of the Toad summonings stood a few meters from the transformed Gaara with a dusty, rusty red skin color, but around his eyes and on his lips and chest are even brighter red markings. His tongue, has a series of stud-like piercings on the upper and lower side. With the blue happi vest with the kanji (ebi) on his back and carries a massive dagger blade with his side and the large kiseru pipe which he often smokes. However, the most noticable thing of him is the large scar that runs down his left eye from his battle with the Kyuubi 13 years ago.

* * *

" WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!? " exclaimed Kiba with his eyes wide and jaw open in disbelief of the gigantic toad before his and everyone elses eyes.

" That... is Lord Gamabunta, " said Kakashi in shock of seeing the massive toad " No one has seen him ever since twelve years ago, ridden by the Fourth Hokage to fight the Kyuubi. ".

' And to think, ' Kakashi continued in his thoughts ' It was the same toad who sensei used to seal the Kyuubi in Naruto. '.

Kakashi had a smirk under his mask that went unoticed by all but Gai, who also kept a hidden smirk.

* * *

" All right, this'll be a breeze. " said Naruto, when the summoning below him said.

" **What the? Not you again! What is this?! **. ".

Suddenly, the Shukaku-Gaara waved his tail to catch Gamabunta's attention and successfully caught his attention as he narrowed his eyes at the beast.

" **Well, I'll be damned! The Shukaku of the Sands! **" he muttered.

" Whattya' say chief? Wanna help fight alongside me today? " Naruto exclaimed.

The toad didn't respond, as he blew out a puff of smoke and stayed quiet for 30 seconds before giving his answer.

" **Take a hike. **".

" WHAT! " Naruto screamed, as a few in the audience sweatdropped at the deadpanned answer.

* * *

' Well, Gamabunta was always lazy. ' thought Sarutobi.

' To think that toad was one of my teammates summonings. ' thought Orochimaru with a sweatdrop.

* * *

**" Why go out of my way to fight a guy like that? What am I, a dumbass? " **he asked Naruto.

" WHY!? You told me the other day that you would make me your henchman! " Naruto yelled, hitting the toad's head " It's only natrual for a chief to help out his henchman! Don't you have any respect or duty?! ".

Gamabunta closed his eyes **" It's true that I said that I'd make you my henchman... "** he paused, as he opened his eyes **" But we haven't sealed the deal over a cup of sake yet. ".**

" YOU'VE GOTTA BE FREAKING KIDDING! I'M STILL UNDERAGE! " Naruto yelled in frustration.

Suddenly, he felt a slight weight on his head and a voice that said " C'mon Pops, help the kid out. ".

" Huh? Pops?! " Naruto asked, extremely confused.

**" Why are you here, Gamakichi?! "** Gamabunta asked, annoyed.

" I got bored and came out to play... " he said nervously.

" HUH?! You're father and son? " Naruto asked.

Gamakichi then pointed his finger at the sand-demon and said " But more importantly, that guy over there was bullying me! ".

**" ...come again? " **Gamabunta said in a deadly, calm voice, making the entire stadium flinch in fear.

" And when that happened, this kid came to help. I'm telling you, Pops, this kid is pretty interesting. " Gamakichi, praising Naruto, making him blush slightly in embarrassment.

**" Is that right? "** he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Gaara took a step back, in caution of what the toad may do, as the two have a stare-down for who knows how long, before Gamabunta reached for his dagger.

**" All right kid... you have been hereby accepted as my henchmen... " **he said, pulling the massive dagger out of its sheath.

**" And I'll show you what the meaning of duty and respect means! " **as he held the dagger in front of him, as it shines brightly from the rays of the sun.

No words were said, you could drop a pin and it would echo across the entire stadium. The only sound was the sound of the wind blowing gently and Naruto gulping from atop Gamabunta's head.

Finally, after a good minute, the toad said **" I'll teach you the price of attacking my son, you underling! " **as he jumped at the gargantuan and shoved his dagger into its right arm and sliced it completely off, as his blade went into the part of the stadium, where the fighters were to be stationed at for waiting.

' Awesome. ' was Naruto's and many people watching this one and only thought of this fight.

The sand hand then collapsed into and formed a massive duststorm, that blinded most of the people watching this fight.

Gaara turned around and was breathing heavily, acting as if his own arm had been sliced off, while Gamabunta glared at him.

**' This guy's no joke... He's so heavy that I barely was able to complete that cut. If I don't finish this fight soon, the entire place is gonna disappear completely. ' **he thought.

" Hey! Chief! Don't go in that direction, Hinata's in that direction. " Naruto yelled, pointing at the place of where the Rookies and Jonin senseis were sitting.

**" Hinata? " **Gamabunta questioned.

" That's his girlfriend, Pops. " Gamakichi said, raising his pinky.

" We have to beat this guy. Or else... Hinata will die. " Naruto said with fiery determination in his eyes.

When Gamabunta to see his summoner's face, he couldn't help but be nostalgic, as he picture the Fourth Hokage standing right behind the young blond, arms crossed and face set in determination, and couldn't help but chuckle.

" Interesting! " bellowed the voice of Gaara " THIS IS INTERESTING! NARUTO UZUMAKI! ", as he finished yelling this, something started to stir in the sand and rise from it, hunched over... it was Gaara's human body.

" What the? It's Gaara! " exclaimed Naruto in shock.

**'' That's... the medium... ? " **Gamabunta said, narrowing his eyes at the form of the demon container.

" To thank you for entertaining me up to now... " he said, as he raised up with his head still down " I'll show you the real power... of the Sand Spirit! " as he raised his head up and Naruto saw something that made his blood run cold.

His eyes...

They had no pupils and were pure white, with veins forming inside of it, like a madman on the verge of insanity and wanted nothing more but to bathe in the blood of all his victims. And to think, he could have become like this... _creature._

**" The circles under his eyes... " **Gamabunta said, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts **" They're symptoms of insomnia which indicate that the medium is possessed by the Shukaku. ".**

" Insomnia? '' Naruto asked confused.

As Gamabunta went on his explanation, Gaara raised his hands up to form the Ram hand-seal.

**" Those possessed by the Shukaku of the Sands are no longer able to sleep soundly through the night. " **he continued with his explanation.

**" Because of the terror... If one does sleep... the Shukaku will slowly start to eat away your inner psyche, until the person you once were ceases to exist. Because of his problem of not getting much sleep, the medium's personality tends to... become unstable. ".**

Naruto's eyes widen in remembrance of Gaara in the prelims, crushing Lee's limbs, then trying to murder him in the hospital, how he killed the two Grass-nin in the halls and how he clutches his head in pain, while he talks about giving blood to his 'mother'.

" Perfect. " he muttered, sarcastically.

**" As long as the medium stays awake, the Shukaku's true power is normally controlled. However... the only danger is if the medium finally falls asleep. " **he finishes, while crouching his body slowly.

* * *

' Oh crap, ' Temari thought frantically ' With that stupid frog telling everyone here of what happens when Gaara falls asleep, many of the Leaf-nin are starting to suspect something. '.

As she turns her head, she sees many Chunins and few Jonins eyes widen in shock, while those veterans of war and the power of the Biju tensed in case of another demon attack.

Suddenly, she heard Gaara announce the one jutsu that she feared most in the world.

**" Play Possum Jutsu! ".**

* * *

As Gaara said those words, he thrusted his arms down, with the hand-seal still in motion, he suddenly started to feel very sleepy and hunched over and was silent.

Inside of Gaara's mind, a golden eye of a beast opens and a blood-thirsty laughter fills his mind, starting to take over.

_" TIME TO PLAY! "_ it said ominously.

* * *

**" He's done it! " **Gamabunta shouted in alarm.

" I don't like this feeling, chief. " Naruto said " What's gonna happen? ".

**" If a container of the Sand Spirit uses the Play Possum Jutsu, then the Shukaku will appear! " **he yelled, as the two watch what changes begins to happen.

Almost instantly, the eye of the great beast turns from a grayish color into a golden-brown color and a mad cackle escapes from its mouth.

_" HIYAHHH! I'M FINALLY FREE! AND I GET TO KILL AGAIN! " _as it looked over and saw the massive toad, standing not 30 feet from him and points a sand-finger at him.

" That's the... Shukaku? " Naruto asked, both highly bewildered and terrified to be in the presence of another Biju, having talked to one not just 4 days ago.

" Man, that is one FUNKY demon! " Gamakichi added.

_" RIGHT THERE! MY FIRST VICTIMS, GET READY TO DIE! " _it yelled at them.

**" I'm gonna jump. " **was all Gamabunta said to warn Naruto, who looked at him in confusion.

_" **WIND STYLE: AIR BULLETS! **"_ the Shukaku yelled, as he takes in a deep breath, making his stomach enlarge, and pounds on its stomach to apply external pressure, as it shoots a highly compressed air ball, filled of chakra, from its mouth.

Gamabunta leaps into the air, barely dodging the lethal technique, as it hit the wall of where he was and completely obliterated it, sending rubble flying. Gamabunta saw his chance and formed the Tiger hand-seal.

**" Water Style: Liquid Bullets! " **he yelled, kneading his chakra into his mouth to form water and then spits it out of his mouth in the form of a highly condensed ball. The Shukaku saw this and fired another **Air Bullet **at the **Liquid Bullet**, hitting it and creating a massive wave in the air, turning the air into a storm-like state.

* * *

As the two techniques hit each other, Sasuke then whispered something.

" What kind of a battle is this? " he asked to no-one in particular.

" This... " Kakashi said in disbelief of the events before his eyes, " This is not a battle of two Genin nor Shinobi... it is a battle... of Titans. ".

With this, Sasuke couldn't help but bristle in anger, as he glared hatefully at the blond, with the Curse Mark starting to affect him painfully.

" To think he was holding this back on me. " came a soft voice behind them, as all the Rookies and Jonins saw Neji looking at the battle in a new awe and respect of the Genin.

' Well, Naruto seems to have that effect on alot of people. ' Kakashi thought, while smirking at the awed faces of the Rookies.

* * *

" Chief! Not in that direction, Hinata's over there! " Naruto yelled at the leaping toad, in case of him squishing the arena.

**" Will you shut the hell up! You already told me! " **he yelled in frustration, before leaping back up into the air, as the Shukaku took notice of him.

_**" AIR BULLETS! "**_shooting two bullets of air before adding a third one after a few seconds to confuse Gamabunta.

**" Liquid Bullets! " **he shouted, shooting out two bullets of water and taking care of the first two, but the third came and hit him straight on target, creating a massive explosion, as his smoke-covered body hit the ground.

_" HELL YEAH! I KILLED IT... I KILLED IT! " _it yelled, announcing his victory that could be heard all across the village.

**" Now that kinda hurt! " **Gamabunta yelled, jumping out of the smoke **" To think that you would shoot me with those damn bullets containing chakra. Even I won't last much longer. ".**

" What now, Chief? " Naruto asked.

**" Well, first, we have to wake up the ginger brat. It will release that jutsu! " **Gamabunta said, somehow floating in the air.

" Annnnd, we're suppose to do that, how!? ".

**" Just punch the bastard in the head! ".**

The Shukaku shot another **Air Bullet **at Gamabunta, who dodged and shot another **Liquid Bullet **at Shukaku, who dodges and fills the arena floor with water.

Gamabunta then grabbed Shukaku, holding him down so that Naruto can punch him, but Shukaku leaned back, making the toad stumble then jump back into the air.

" Chief, you have to hold him down if I'm to hit him. " Naruto said while crouching.

**" I don't have fangs or claws to hold that guy down. You must use the Transformation Jutsu to change into something that has those! However... I suck at transformation, so you must use a Combined-Transformation! Remember, fangs and claws! ". **

" Right, now let's see- " Naruto muttered, before Gamabunta rushed at the sand-beast, before Naruto then realized what to transform into. The thing that helped him defeat Haku, the thing that has caused him to become an outcast, the bane of his existence.

" **Transformation Jutsu! " **he yelled, before a great smoke filled the arena and a clawed-hand, made of orange fur, grabbed ahold of the Shukaku and even it was stunned of what stood before him.

Gamabunta had been transformed... into the Kyuubi-no-Kitsune.

* * *

" A fox?! " Sasuke said, as he watch the creature latch onto the Shukaku.

" Yes. " Kakashi answered ' And to think, it portrays the irony of this situation. '.

* * *

**" All right! Now! " **Gamabunta yelled, startling others, as his voice never changed as the Transformation wore off and a projectile leaped 200 feet in the air, revealing to be Naruto.

As he starts to descend, he cocks his fist back and yells " WAKEY, WAKEY! " before hitting Gaara in the left cheek, giving him a good bruise before skidding back.

_" AW, DAMMIT! " _the voice of Shukaku yelled _" GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! I JUST GOT HERE, YOU BLOND MOTHERFUCKER! "_ before the voice disappeared and Gaara's eyes opened.

Naruto then let out a cry and rushed toward Gaara, who glared hatefully at the kid in front of him.

Suddenly, his feet sank and Gaara cried out " **Sand Coffin! **" as strings of sand rushed toward him to kill him.

" POPS! " Gamakichi warned, as Gamabunta's tongue covered him, protecting his body from any harm before retracting it.

' I'm out of chakra, and he's still going, c'mon... ' he thought, forming the tiger hand-seal, ' Please... give me some chakra. '.

* * *

Inside Naruto, a crimson-red eye with a slit for a pupil opens and chuckles, before saying **" That's the second time in one day that you've asked for my help... Alright, you can have it. ''.**

* * *

Suddenly, Naruto felt an instant rush of chakra, as orange-flamed chakra appeared, blowing away his forehead protector and destroying the zipper of his jacket.

Then, he opened his eyes to glare at Gaara and yelled " Here I come, you raccoon bastard! ".

" DIE! " Gaara yelled with all the hatred in his body to the kid who thought he could beat HIM!

The two launched their final attacks, as Naruto launched himself at Gaara to give him a Kyuubi-infused punch, but two strings of sand grabbed his arms, stopping him in the progress. Suddenly, Naruto remembered the damage that he caused to Lee and Sasuke and gave his last shot.

" YOU SON OF A BITCH! " he roared, headbutting the Sand-nin, making Gaara's eyes roll into the back of his head and blood to run down from the fresh wound that they both recieved, as the sand started to crack and then fall apart.

**" Gamakichi, let's head home! " **Gamabunta said, seeing that his work here was done.

As they left, the aftershock blasted both Naruto and Gaara into opposite sides of the arena, while Gamabunta's dagger still remained.

After a few minutes of breathing heavily, Naruto said '' You too, huh? We're so much... alike... let's finish this... in one last blow... ".

As the two stood up and took their stances, when the dagger went _POOF, _the two rushed toward each other, both with determination to win this fight, they both yelled and threw their punches... but Naruto was the one who made his mark and launched Gaara back.

Everyone from the Leaf or who didn't come from the Sand let out a sigh or breath of relief that they didn't know they were holding in, while the Sand were all in shock as their undefeated weapon was beaten... by a mere child.

* * *

As the two landed painfully, Gaara was rolled out flat on his back and couldn't feel any of his muscles or his chakra. While Naruto landed on his stomach and painfully coughed out some blood from the impact of the landing.

Gaara painfully turns his head, thinking to see his opponent dead or unconscious, but to both his horror and surprise, Naruto was dragging himself inch-by-inch with his chin to GAARA!

' Why is... he so strong? ' was the only thought on Gaara's mind, as the orange-wearing shinobi neared toward him, he started to whisper, desperately.

" My existance will not be erased... I shall never disappear! " as the darkness started to blur on the Sand-nin.

While Naruto dragged himself to Gaara, his words from the hospital started to re-enter into his mind.

_" To them, I'm just a relic of the past who they wanted to see disappear. So, what did I have in this life, why am I alive? "._

Then he remembered Haku and their final conversation on the bridge before his death.

_" And that time, I thought of myself that I... no, that is what I had to think. And that's when I realized the painful truth, no matter how I tried to deny it, I finally realized that in the end... I was unnecessary. "._

" D-DON'T COME NEAR ME! " Gaara finally screamed in fear.

But Naruto didn't listen, as he was 20 inches from the terrified red-head and said " The pain of... being all alone... is hurtful. That it's dark and cold? " as he lifted his eyes and Gaara gasped silently of what his eyes held.

Compassion.

" The way you feel... I don't know why, but I completely understand that it hurts. " he whispered in sadness and near-tears " But there are people who rescued me from the hell of my loneliness. I won't let anyone harm them... and I will protect them, even if I have to kill you! ".

As Gaara saw his eyes, he was surprised as he saw his slitted eyes, like a animal's eye, then he realized that they were the same, but he gave in to the darkness while he didn't and kept moving on with... people who are precious.

" Why? Why would you do this for others? " he asked.

" Like I said... they saved me and they acknowledged my existance... they cared for me. " he told him.

As Gaara lifted his head to look at the sky, he remembered the words that his uncle, Yashamaru, told him the day before his death.

" Love is a heart that desires to serve a precious person who is close to oneself, to love and watch over that person... ".

' Love. That's why he's strong... I was wrong, very wrong. ' were his last thoughts before he blacked out.

* * *

Temari, Kankuro, and Baki were just dumbfounded of the events that they just witnessed before them. Gaara was beaten, begged for mercy, then his opponent started to _TALK,_ to him about the same loneliness that he went through. As they look around, they saw many people had their heads down or eyes filled with tears and a few had the balls to actually sneer at him, calling him " lying demon " or " he deserved it ".

Suddenly, Baki jumped up and yelled " SHIT, he's gonna pass out! ".

" WHAT?! " the two siblings asked.

Everyone in the arena heard this and gasped in horror and looked at the prone form of Gaara, who didn't look different before a mad grin spread across his face and he opened his eyes to show that his eyes had turned coal-black, while his pupils turned golden-brown with a cross in the middle and four dots on each line.

_" GUESS WHO?! HIYAHH! "._

The Ichibi-no-Shukaku... had been reawakened.


End file.
